Our archdiocese was blessed this past March by the episcopal ordination of three of our priests: Reverend Keith J. Chylinski, Reverend Christopher R. Cooke and Reverend Efren V. Esmilla. They, along with Bishop John J. McIntyre, are now the auxiliary bishops to Archbishop Nelson Pérez and assist him in the administration of our archdiocese which comprises five counties (Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia), an area covering 2,202 square miles with a total population of 4.2 million, of which 1.6 million are Catholic. There are 214 parishes served by 241 priests; an additional 62 priests serve in educational and administrative ministries throughout the archdiocese. There are also many archdiocesan offices and organizations that provide educational, evangelization, community outreach and social services. Approximately 132,000 students attend our Catholic schools and almost a million people benefit from our community outreach and social services activities annually. I provide this thumbnail sketch of the archdiocese to help you understand the extent of its structure and ministerial activity.
In order to serve the archdiocese effectively, the parishes are divided into 14 deaneries. You will recall that I served as the dean of the Delaware County West Deanery for 12 years; I retired from that position just last October. These 14 deaneries are clustered into four Episcopal Regions. Each of the auxiliary bishops is entrusted with one of these regions; Bishop McIntyre is entrusted with Episcopal Region I which includes all of Delaware County and Chester County. This region covers 950 square miles and 66 parishes, including ours. The other auxiliary bishops are assigned to the other three Episcopal Regions covering Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. Recently, Abp. Pérez provided a detailed update about the pastoral and administrative responsibilities of the auxiliary bishops and deans. Allow me to offer a summary of this update to give you an understanding of the many ways in which Abp. Pérez and the central administration of our archdiocese serves everyone.
As you can tell by their title, the auxiliary bishops assist Abp. Pérez in his ministry throughout our archdiocese. Besides helping Abp. Pérez in celebrating the Sacrament of Confirmation in all of the 214 parishes in the archdiocese (Abp. Pérez celebrated Confirmation here this year), the auxiliary bishops also make periodic parish visits (you will recall that Bishop McIntyre celebrated the 9:30am Mass here this past Palm Sunday). They also preside over the installation of new pastors as well as the funerals of priests and deacons.
Each auxiliary bishop is also entrusted to watch over and lead particular aspects of the life and ministry of the archdiocese, working in the name of and in close coordination with Abp. Pérez. In this aspect of their episcopal ministry, the auxiliary bishops care for the Church in the Philadelphia Archdiocese by fostering the work of all of the clergy, religious and laity as everyone seeks to fulfill their shared mission of continuing Christ’s ministry in our midst. Bishop McIntyre, who, as I outlined above, is responsible for Episcopal Region I (which includes all of Delaware County and Chester County), also has oversight over the various charitable services in the archdiocese. This includes Catholic Social Services (which touches the lives of almost 1 million people in our archdiocese every year), Catholic Housing and Community Services, and Nutritional Development Services. Bishop Chylinski, who is currently the rector at St. Charles Seminary, will take on oversight of all Catholic educational institutions (elementary, secondary, colleges and universities and schools of special education) beginning in June 2025 when he will cease to be the seminary rector. Bishop Esmilla has oversight over the ministry of evangelization which includes a variety of offices (New Evangelization, Life and Family, Persons with Disabilities, Deaf, Black Catholics, and Migrants and Refugees). Finally, Bishop Edward Deliman, a retired bishop, is assisted by Bishop Christopher Cooke in serving the extensive Hispanic ministry throughout the archdiocese.
As you can readily see, our archdiocesan ministry occurs not only in our parishes but in a wide variety of other ways, as well. Our auxiliary bishops and our deans, working closely with Abp. Pérez, provide very important oversight over and support for all of these aspects of our archdiocese. Please keep them in your prayers that they may be strengthened by the Holy Spirit each day as they serve in our midst.